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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v WARRIORS

May 29, 2016

Kevin Durant

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. Game 7 for a chance to go to The Finals. There's nothing more you can ask for, right?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, this is what you dream about, getting this opportunity. We've got to take advantage of it. Go up into their building, and it's going to be great atmosphere. We're looking forward to the opportunity.

Q. Kevin, you were 3 of 13 to start in Game 6. Did you feel like you were amped at all or too overamped at all to for the game?
KEVIN DURANT: No, no, I've been excited like that every single game. Shots, if they go in or not, that's not really what matters. I'm just bringing effort every single minute I'm on the court.

If shots go in, cool. But that wasn't the sole reason we lost the game. We were still in the game no matter how bad I was shooting. It's just a part of the game. I just keep playing. If I let that affect other parts of the game, then that's when I would say I played a terrible game.

Shooting-wise, I was bad. But the energy and effort and leadership and all that stuff was there.

Q. When you look at the video, when you guys sat down and looked at it this morning, what were the things that did turn the tide?
KEVIN DURANT: We didn't look at video. We know all about this team, like I said yesterday. We know all about this team. We know what we have to do. It's just a matter of us going out there and playing with extreme effort and leaving it all out there and feeling confident that we can go in there and get this done. I think all the guys feel confident.

Q. 5-3 on the road this postseason, a win in Oracle, two in San Antonio. Does that help that confidence?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, no matter where you play, you've still got to play. That's how we look at it. You've got to play basketball at the end of the day. They came and beat us on our home floor. We beat them on their home floor. You've still got to play the games. I think that's one thing that we realize. Forty-eight minutes of basketball, no matter where you are.

Q. Billy [Donovan] seems to be really locked in on that, just like worry about what happens between the lines and all the rest of the stuff doesn't matter.
KEVIN DURANT: It doesn't. It doesn't. It's not about anything outside of the lines or what's going on in the world or in the basketball world or whatever. It's all about what's going on in between those lines. That's what's most important. Those 10 guys on the court. That's what basketball is all about. We're excited for that.

Q. Billy says you guys went back to some of your old habits late in the game. Is that just a matter of tweaking your minds and just moving forward and going back to some of the things that got you to this point?
KEVIN DURANT: It's kind of easier said than done to do that. I think last night they did a good job. They switched all our actions and made us play in the paint. They kind of converged in the paint on Russell [Westbrook] and myself or whoever was driving.

So it's on us to make that extra pass, maybe, and find a better shot. That's a lesson we learned throughout the regular season. We've got to continue to be who we are, but also know what's happening on the defensive end.

Q. (No Microphone) the last couple games where instead of driving at [Harrison] Barnes or [Andre] Iguodala, you've gone to the spot-up. Is that something you've been thinking about? Instead of just putting the ball , on the floor, but spot up on these guys and shoot over?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, that's to my advantage. Those guys are smaller than me, and they're converging a lot and coming over and helping a lot. I try not to play in crowds. But on the offensive end you don't have to worry about me because I'm a professional scorer and I know how I've been doing this for so long. I'm not saying I'm going to have a great game every night or I'm going to shoot well every night, but I tend to figure things out on the offensive end.

I think defensively, I've got to be on point every single possession. Offensively, I'll worry about that when I get there. I always want to be confident in my work and the shots that I put up. I've just got to be confident in myself, and my teammates are always encouraging me. So I try not to worry about that. I know I'm going to get those shots. It's just a matter of knocking them down. But the other parts of my game, I've got to be on point.

Q. What's Andre [Roberson] shown that people might not have known?
KEVIN DURANT: He's been great, he's been great. Defensively, just keeping basketballs alive with his effort and his energy. I'm so proud of how he's been playing throughout this whole playoffs. We need him. We need him to continue to do that.

Q. Did you find yourself wanting it too much?
KEVIN DURANT: I mean, who wouldn't? Who wouldn't? I think it's okay to want it so much. I think sometimes you want to calm down a bit because you want something so bad. It's difficult to really talk about because it's something that I've been feeling. It's like you've been dreaming about this moment since you were a kid. You've been wanting this moment since you were a kid. That's all that's been talked about is playing in the big games in the playoffs.

I think that it's okay to want it so bad. But at the same time, I've just got to relax a bit.

Q. This team seems to find its identity in the face of adversity. How are you guys going to respond in Game 7?
KEVIN DURANT: Just going to go out there and play as hard as we can. I think defensively we were really good last night. The three-point line killed us. You've got to give them credit. Their players hit tough shots all night with hands up. Our effort and energy were there. There was nothing wrong with that part of it. You've got to give them credit. They made shots last night.

We've got to stick to what we do. Our energy level and our sense of urgency has been there the whole series, and we've got to keep it that way. But we've got to stay confident as well.

Q. You've talked before about losing yourself in the game almost like losing yourself in music. What is the soundtrack for Game 7?
KEVIN DURANT: Exactly what you said. You've just got to lose yourself and get really deep into the task at hand and enjoy it at the same time and not put too much pressure on yourself. I think from the first to the 15th guy, we've got to enjoy this process. Because if you ask anybody coming into the season if you want one game to go to the NBA Finals, they'll sign up for that.

We've got to be excited for this opportunity and know that it doesn't come around often and take advantage of it.

Q. Does the idea that last night's game, the emotional draining of that will linger over into Game 7, is that exaggerated at times when you have 48 hours?
KEVIN DURANT: It's definitely exaggerated, especially when you play in the NBA so long and you know how much of a marathon it is. Of course we're up 3-1, and we go home for Game 6, we want to win that game. That's a huge game. You think you should win it. But at the same time, you take an L, and it's going to see what you're made of. You're going to test your character.

We've been tested all season. We've been tested since I've been here. We never let anything linger over or bleed over into the next day. That's the motto we always have, even in a regular season. We lose a game, we move on. We win a game, we move on. The playoffs is no different. It's on a bigger scale because you play the same team over and over. But we've got to move on and get ready for the next one.

Q. Give us an idea of practice today, the spirits seem like they're high.
KEVIN DURANT: If we walk in here like it's a funeral, we've already lost. Nobody walked in like that. We can't feel sorry for ourselves. They aren't going to feel sorry for us, and whoever's covering the game, fans, nobody's feeling sorry for us. It's just a part of basketball. Guys walked in here are really confident. We're upset we lost, but we let that go and we've got to get ready for Game 7.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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